Chris Puckett of Cedar Hill took advantage of Thursday’s beautiful weather to fish at Joe Pool Lake in Cedar Hill State Park. The 1,826-acre park, which opened in May 1991 on the east shore of the lake, features two marinas, camping areas, hills, trails and the historic Penn Farm.

Cedar Hill State Park is one of the three most-visited state parks in Texas and draws many of its visitors from North Texas. But not everyone here knows about the treasure in their backyard.

On Saturday, Texas Parks and Wildlife officials hope to change that by marking the park’s 20th anniversary with a celebration showcasing the urban oasis already visited by 500,000 people each year.

“I meet people all the time — even recently — who say they have lived in this area all their life and they didn’t know it was here,” said Josh Choate, the park’s assistant superintendent of operations.

The 20th anniversary event will feature a scaled-down version of Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Outdoor Expo, with hands-on activities, displays and exhibits. Patrol- boat rides will also be available on Joe Pool Lake, which also is 20 years old this year.

First-time visitors often marvel at the tranquility offered by the park, said Choate, who has worked there at the park for 15 years.

“When they get in here, they are often very surprised by how serene it is and how much of a disconnect it is from Dallas, Fort Worth or the suburbs,” Choate said. “You can almost feel like you are in the Hill Country.”

Cedar Hill State Park is perennially a visitation leader, said Texas Parks and Wildlife spokesman Rob McCorkle in Austin.

The 1,826-acre park on the east shore of Joe Pool Lake has two marinas, camping areas, hills, trails and the historic Penn Farm.

“You’ve got all that going for it, but mainly it’s close to a major metropolitan area,” McCorkle said. “That makes a lot of difference because city people are ready to get outdoors.”

The only other state park so as near to a major urban area is the Government Canyon State Natural Area south of downtown San Antonio, McCorkle said. But the South Texas natural area doesn’t have as many of the features as the North Texas park, he added.

Cedar Hill State Park opened in May 1991 on land that was settled nearly 160 years ago by an Illinois farmer, John Penn.

“Culturally, it’s our icon,” Choate said of the farm, which has been preserved as an agricultural history center.

Penn Farm will host many of Saturday’s events, including a vintage baseball game and demonstrations of woodcarving, quilting and weaving. The farm will also have a Buffalo Soldier camp and TPWD archeological exhibits.

Elsewhere in the park, there will be a climbing wall as well as kayaks and mountain bikes to rent.

“We do have some of the best mountain-bike trails in the state,” said Robert Rinn, the park’s assistant superintendent of administration. “We’ve got 12 miles of pretty intense riding; you don’t see a lot of that in the D-FW area.”

The state park, — with the recently opened Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center and the nearby Cedar Ridge Preserve — are attracting people who want to enjoy the outdoors, said Cedar Hill city spokesman Corky Brown.

“The business side of that is that we attract more people … and they decide to stay or they decide to come and visit, and spend money while they are here,” he said.

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